Your Guide To The Characters Of ‘The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’

The latest entry of Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story series is The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Here's a look at the American Crime Story cast, including Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez, Penelope Cruz and more.

Photos: FX ; Photo Illustration: Dillen Phelps

Gianni VersacePortrayed By: Édgar Ramírez The iconic fashion designer stands at the center of Ryan Murphy's latest anthology series. On July 15, 1997, Versace was murdered by Andrew Cunanan. The designer, who was on the eve of launching Versace's stock to the public, was the serial killer's fifth and final murder.

Photo: Getty Collection, FX

Antonio D'AmicoPortrayed By: Ricky Martin D'Amico was Versace's loyal romantic partner for 15 years. Throughout that time and after Versace's death, he had a rocky relationship with Gianni's sister, Donatella Versace. He's still alive today and has expressed mixed feelings about the FX series.

Photo: Getty Collection, FX

Donatella VersacePortrayed By: Penélope Cruz Her brother's longtime friend, collaborator, and lifetime muse, Donatella Versace now stands as Versace's vice president and principal designer. Both she and the Versace family have already distanced themselves from the FX series.

Photo: Getty Collection, FX

Andrew CunananPortrayed By: Darren Criss Over the course of 1997, Cunanan killed at least five people, four of which were known to be gay or bisexual men. He was a known party boy and escort for wealthy, older men and was known in circles for his extravagant spending habits and even more extravagant lies. He killed himself on a houseboat after murdering Versace.

Photo: Getty Collection, FX

Lee Miglin and Marilyn MiglinPortrayed By: Mike Farrell and Judith Light Lee Miglin was a wealthy and well-known real estate developer in Chicago. While his wife, Home Shopping Network professional Marilyn Miglin, was away on a business trip, Lee Miglin became Cunanan's third victim. He was found duct taped in his garage after being stabbed several times with a screwdriver and having his throat sawed open with a hacksaw.

Photo: Getty Collection, FX

Jeff TrailPortrayed By: Finn Wittrock A former naval officer, Jeff Trail was friends with Andrew Cunanan. However, Trail tried to distance himself from Cunanan after a period of time. Trail was also friends with David Madsen, and he was ultimately found murdered in Madsen's loft and rolled up in a rug. He was Cunanan's first victim.

Photo: FX

David MadsenPortrayed By: Cody Fern Cunanan's second victim, David Madsen was an architect who was friends with Trail as well as Cunanan's former lover. It's widely believed that Cunanan's murder of Trail was a crime of passion and that Cunanan forced Madsen to flee with him. He was found in a river with gunshots in his head and back.

Photo: FX

RonniePlayed By: Max Greenfield Though there was a real former florist named Ronnie in Cunanan's life, the version of Ronnie we see is more like a combination of several people Cunanan knew. He largely represents the seedy underbelly of the gay community Cunanan pretended not to know.

Photo: FX

Detective Lori WiederPlayed By: Dascha Polanco Like Greenfield's character, there is no direct real-life counterpart to Polanco's Detective Wieder. However, the OITNB actress plays an important role. The police's lack of attention and direction are what ultimately led to Cunanan getting away with so many murders for so long.

It’s hard to argue against the cultural relevance of the first season of American Crime Story, The People v. O.J. Simpson. The Simpson trial was an event that managed to simultaneously capture the racial frustrations of its time while questioning what role celebrities and the law have in civilians’ day-to-day lives. That trial was a moment in American history that subtly redefined the world we lived in. For its second season, American Crime Story is focusing on a less universally unifying crime, but that doesn’t mean The Assassination of Gianni Versace is any less important or necessary than The People v. O.J. Simpson. In fact, its the lack of knowledge about this murder spree that makes this sad story so poignant.

Over the course of several months in 1997, Andrew Cunanan murdered five people, four of which were known or at least thought to be gay men and one of which was one of the most iconic designers of the last several years. Cunanan wasn’t able to get away with these crimes because he was a master criminal genius. As documented by Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U. S. History, these murders happened almost exclusively because of major mistakes and a legal, police, and media environment that didn’t take crimes against homosexual men as seriously as they should have. It’s a sad tale about the underhanded ways unspoken discrimination led to the deaths of five people. Buried under this social criticism is also a study of one of the most chilling serial killers in modern history.

Because the O.J. trial was such an event, the average person didn’t need to do much research before jumping into Ryan Murphy‘s take on the saga. However, part of the criminal element of Versace’s murder is how quickly America forgot these horrific crimes. Consider this your guide to the main players in the FX adaptation if you want to do some research before the show’s premiere.

Gianni Versace

Though the legendary designer’s murder is the center of this crime epic, Gianni Versace’s death is used more as tragic proof that this murder spree went on for far too long than as the inciting crime that O.J.’s case was in Season 1 of American Crime Story. Born in Italy in 1946, the iconic designer was known for his lavish, bold, and luxurious designs. He was also one of the first designers to link fashion to music. But perhaps the most interesting detail about this legend’s life was his open sexuality. Versace was one of the first mainstream celebrities to openly live his life as a gay man. He and his partner Antonio D’Amico were regulars in the international party scene.

Versace was murdered on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion on July 15, 1997 by Andrew Cunanan. He was 50 years old at the time of his murder.

Antonio D’Amico

The Italian model and fashion designer is perhaps best known for his relationship with Gianni Versace. Antonio D’Amico was Versace’s partner for 15 years before the designer’s tragic death. After Versace’s murder, D’Amico was left 50 million lire a month for life and the right to live in any of Versace’s homes he wanted. Because Versace’s homes were really left to his sister Donatella, they had to rework the arrangement, yet another examples of the pair’s rocky relationship.

Though D’Amico was Versace’s loyal, life-long partner, he also arranged for other sexual partners to join them. This detail further confused the already haphazard investigation.

Donatella Versace

Donatella Versace is the sister of Gianni Versace and was his life-long muse. She worked closely with her brother to become another designer for Versace Group, but her tutoring under her brother was sadly cut short by his death. Donatella Versace then became the vice president of the Versace Group as well as its chief designer, a position she still holds to this day. For years, she has had a strained relationship with Gianni’s long-time partner Antonio D’Amico. She once said of D’Amico, “My relationship with Antonio is exactly as it was when Gianni was alive. I respected him as the boyfriend of my brother, but I never liked him as a person. So the relationship stayed the same.”

Andrew Cunanan

The string of murders this serial killer committed led to Andrew Cunanan being placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and launched the largest failed manhunt in American history. Before he killed himself while hiding in a houseboat, Cunanan was responsible for murdering five men, four of which were gay. He was 27 years old at the time of his death.

Throughout his life, Cunanan never had a strict job and instead largely lived as an escort to wealthy older men. A year prior to Cunanan committing his first murder, a wealthy millionaire partner dumped him. According to his friends and acquaintances, Cunanan was known for spending obscene amount of money and telling larger-than-life stories that many later discovered were lies. The serial killer was obsessed with Gianni Versace, though he often claimed to hate his styles. Whether or not Versace and Cunanan ever met prior to the designer’s murder is unclear.

Lee Miglin and Marilyn Miglin

After Versace, Lee Miglin was Cunanan’s second highest profile murder. Miglin was a wealthy real estate developer who may or may not have had a former relationship with Cunanan. While his wife Marilyn Miglin was away on a trip connected to her Home Shopping Network business, he was murdered. There were no signs of forced entry, but a ham was found in Miglin’s office and the bathroom was left unusually dirty when Marilyn Miglin returned home. Her husband was found with his hands, feet, and head duct taped, he had been stabbed 20 times with a screwdriver, and his throat had been cut by a hacksaw. It was this murder that landed Cunanan on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

After his third murder, Cunanan stole Miglin’s car. Unbeknownst to Cunanan, the vehicle had a car phone — something the authorities hoped Cunanan wouldn’t catch on to. He did, and in his attempt to switch cars, he committed his fourth murder, that of 45-year-old caretaker William Reese. Reese was the only one of Cunanan’s victims many believed he didn’t have a personal connection to.

Jeff Trail

Technically, Jeff Trail was Cunanan’s first murder, but his death is so connected to Cunanan’s second murder, logically it makes the most sense to start with him. Jeff Trail was a former U.S. naval officer as well as an acquaintance of Cunanan’s. They were friendly until Trail, frustrated with Cunanan’s many lies, decided to break ties with him. This allegedly came to a head when Cunanan attempted to out Trail’s homosexuality to his own family.

Cunanan beat Trail to death with a claw hammer while in the apartment of another friend, David Madsen. Through second-hand testimony, authorities gathered that Cunanan may have had romantic feeling for Madsen, making the murder of Trail more of a heartless crime of passion than any of his other murders. Cunanan and Madsen rolled up Trail’s body in the living room rug and proceeded to live in Madsen’s loft for days.

David Madsen

After Cunanan murdered Jeff Trail, he and David Madsen went on the run. It’s now largely believed that Cunanan pressured and threatened his former lover until Madsen joined him and that Madsen had little if anything to do with Trail’s death. Madsen’s body was found on the east shore of Rush Lake near Rush City, Minnesota in early May of 1997. The architect had died from gunshot wounds to the head and back, marking him the first of Cunanan’s three victims to be murdered by the same weapon.

Ronnie

There was a real Ronnie in Cunanan’s life — Ronnie Holston, a 43-year-old retired florist who lived in the same hotel Cunanan stayed in while he planned out the murder of Versace. However, while the real Ronnie Holston claims he only asked Cunanan to move his stolen red truck once, the fictionalized Ronnie plays a much larger role. Greenfield’s Ronnie nods to the sketchy, party-loving people Cunanan pretended he didn’t know but knew intimately.

Detective Lori Wieder

Much like Greenfield’s Ronnie, there was no actual Detective Wieder. Polanco’s character is more of a stand-in for the Miami police force as a whole, which could have likely prevented Versace’s murder if it paid more attention to this case and didn’t make so many odd assumptions about Cunanan based on his sexuality. The real tragedy of Andrew Cunanan’s murder spree is that it was almost entirely preventable. That’s likely the idea this character will explore.